Alton Juneteenth celebration expanding

ALTON — The 24th annual Juneteenth Celebration in Alton on June 13 will mark 150 years since passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning slavery, and offer a full program.

“We are expanding, people are more and more interested in coming,” said Abe Lee Barham Jr. of Alton, one of the sponsors. “They now understand” meaning of Juneteenth. “We encourage people to come out and enjoy the activities.”

The celebration opens at 10 a.m., with the program scheduled to run from 11:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., ending with a prayer. As before, the Juneteenth celebration will be held at James H. Killion Park at Salu, at Washington Avenue and Salu Street.

Among those planning to participate in the program are Jesse White and his Tumblers, for the second year in a row, and activist Calvin Payne of Sweetie Pie’s Soul Food in St. Louis. White, the Illinois Secretary of State, was born in Alton. His tumbling team is tentatively scheduled to perform at 2:30 p.m.; Payne is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m.

The commemoration is the oldest in the United States that celebrates the end of slavery, when the last blacks learned they were free people on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas. U.S. Army Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived that day with the news of their freedom, 2.5 years after President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

“As a community, we have a long way to go; there is the unrest in Ferguson, New York and Baltimore,” Barham said. The Alton Section-National Council of Negro Women is host of the event; besides Barham, other organizers are Marquato Rattler and Anne Johnson.

Mayor Brant Walker will read a proclamation honoring the day. Children will enjoy a climbing wall, bounce house, puppet show and cake walk. There also will be free blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and HIV screenings.

There also will be attendance prizes and craft and food vendors at the event.